Warren unwilling to sanction Gavin fight

Promoter Frank Warren says he will not consider booking Frankie Gavin in a fight until he overcomes the personal problems that threaten to destroy his career.

Gavin pulled out of last month's bout with Frank Haroche Horta at the 11th hour, citing private issues. At the time, he said: "I've had a lot of personal problems over the past couple of years, you could see it in my performances, and they just all caught up with me. I'm going to take a break from the sport. I have got to sort myself out. But I'll be back."

When informing the media of the cancellation, Warren appeared to be unaware of Gavin's whereabouts - but he is willing to offer the 26-year-old another chance.

"In my opinion he's not ready to fight and I won't put him on anywhere until we get to the bottom of whatever the problem is," said Warren. "He's got a lot of issues outside of boxing that he must overcome before he gets involved in the dangerous sport that he's involved with.

"He's a big talent, but there have a been a lot of big talents in boxing. In this business you don't get by on talent alone. You must have dedication because talent will only take you a certain amount of the way. We've seen that with a lot of fighters.

"If you really want to crack it, you must live the life and be prepared to make sacrifices. If you don't do that you can forget about it."

Gavin, Britain's only ever World Amateur Championships gold medallist, has built up an 11-0 record as a professional, with eight victories coming by way of knockout. However, he has failed to live up to the promise he showed before turning pro, labouring past former footballer Curtis Woodhouse in his most recent outing.

Warren believes Gavin's in-ring strife may be because he is fighting at the wrong weight. "To me he's certainly not a welterweight," he said. "There's no reason for him to be fighting these big welterweights when he could be meeting people his own size."